make it “all about them” vs. all about you, I think you’ll find you go a lot further, a lotfaster, with a great deal less effort.
What difference have you made in someone else’s life today?2 - Technology Literate:
The Internet
just is
. The personal computer
just is
.Connectivity, cell phones, email, instant messaging, text messaging, personal Web sites,Blogs, social networking sites, online forums, etc., etc.
just are
. All of the currenttechnology we see and hear about that other people (see the first tenet) are using, beingproductive with, are leveraging to solve problems, are communicating with, and mostimportantly – are participating in and with –
simply exist
. The
question is
– are you participating with, leveraging, connecting with,communicating with & supporting others using these tools & communities? Theimperative of learning, leveraging and communicating with and through thesetechnologies is not coming around the bend, or in the future,
the imperative is – rightnow!3 - Branding & Marketing Focused:
Let’s be honest – we now know, beyond a shadowof a doubt, that no business, no organization, not even an individual can possibly hope togain the visibility, exposure, & customer mind share necessary to be successful in thelong run using “traditional” advertising. Yes I know, there are still large companies,investing massive amounts of cash into traditional advertising campaigns that doproduce “some” results. But these results have been, and continue to diminish, and willdo so into oblivion.
Traditional advertising ROI is virtually dead
.Are you still beating that dieing & almost dead horse? If so – why?
You have a choice
, achoice to develop a “Brand” for yourself and/or your business/organization using the firsttwo tenets. A brand that showcases your value & expertise,
as it applies to others.
Let me step back and clarify something here. I believe that traditional advertising isdieing/dead because it is by definition
“speaking AT people”
(essentially vomitinginformation AT people, about you and your services, whether they want it or not, andmost often at times and in ways they don’t want, and frequently resent you theadvertiser for). Indeed this is the lowest rung on the marketing ladder. The next rung up is
“speaking TO people”
(telling/sharing information that yourmarket research indicates people may want to hear & be willing to listen to) that’s a littlebetter, and often produces somewhat better results.Almost at the top now is
“speaking WITH people”.
It’s a two way
conversation
, it’sasking questions, really listening, sharing idea’s & insights. Proving you actually do careabout them, and your willingness to serve & support them (see the first tenet), showingthem the value you can be for them, and that
you value them!
In marketing it’s
respecting their choice
of what information they want, when they want it, and howthey want to receive it (see the second tenet). This gives access to the very top rung of the marketing ladder -
the Holy Grail
– havingpeople
talk “about you” to and with others
. That’s when your Personal Brand beginsto pay dividends. You just need to insure that what they are saying about you is the
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